Are You a Bad Apple?

I was listening to the radio the other day and heard about a study that says 100% of adult Americans will be overweight in 40 years. Absurd? Probably, but that statistic was a good segue into the advice that followed: By taking some simple body measurements, you can know your risk of getting diabetes, high blood pressure, or cardiovascular disease. The radio host talked about body mass index (BMI), which is a calculation that estimates your total body fat, and that you can tell by your BMI how high your risk of disease is. The problem is that BMI is not a very accurate predictor. Since it was derived 30 years ago, more accurate indicators of risk have been discovered. Two of the more accurate ones are your waist size and the ratio of your waist to your height.

Here’s the skinny: The BMI is flawed because it estimates total body fat. Abdominal fat is actually more important to measure than total fat. This means that if you have an apple-shaped body, you are more at risk than a pear-shaped body. And people with chili-shaped bodies (long, slender chilis) have the lowest risk(1). Read on to find out if you are a bad apple.

Tips: You are at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes if your waist size is over 40 inches for males and over 35 inches for females. The rule of thumb for the waist-to-height ratio is that your waist size (measured at the level of your belly button) should be less than half of your height. If you’d like to know your BMI, use the link to the BMI calculator below. Ideally it should be less than 25. Above 30 requires action (losing weight).

BMI Calculator:
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm
BMI/Waist Size Risk Chart:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/bmi_dis.htm

1. Ashwell, M. Obesity Risk: Importance of the waist-to-height ratio. Nursing Standard; 6/17/2009, Vol. 23, Issue 41, p49-54.